Sumo Gambling Scandal Prompts Public TV to Take Tourney Off Air

July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s public broadcaster canceled
its television coverage of a sumo tournament for the first time
in 57 years in response to complaints by viewers about some
wrestlers’ gambling and signs of links to organized crime.

NHK today said it won’t air the 15-day tournament that
starts on July 11 in Japan’s central city of Nagoya. The
government network started televising sumo matches in 1953.

The cancellation may add to the exodus of sponsors that
started when 65 wrestlers, assistants and entourage members last
month admitted to illegal gambling on baseball, mahjong and card
games, with some bets allegedly organized through gangsters.
Fuji Xerox Co. and at least four other companies have pulled
their sponsorship from the Nagoya tournament.

“NHK canceling the broadcast highlights how much of a
crisis the sport is in,” said Rio Matsuo, a Tokyo-based
accountant and author of books on the sports industry. “It will
force the sumo association to seriously review the way it does
things.”

NHK will air a digest of the tournament from 6 p.m. Japan
time, Shigeo Fukuchi, the broadcaster’s chairman, said. The
Tokyo-based network usually airs sumo tournaments between 3:05
p.m. and 6 p.m.

About 68 percent of viewers polled said they didn’t want
the Nagoya tournament broadcast, NHK said. The broadcaster said
it received 11,100 responses between June 14 and July 4.

“The comments from our viewers have been more severe than
ever,” Fukuchi said at a press conference in Tokyo today. “The
sumo association must take the situation as a once-in-a-century
crisis, and we hope it will take measures to improve its
governance.”

Throwing Salt

About 14 percent of Japanese households tuned into the NHK
broadcast of the final day of the most recent tournament in May,
according to market research company Video Research Ltd.

Sumo, which weaves aspects of Shintoism into matches
including a purification ritual that involves throwing salt
before bouts, is seeking to protect 8.5 billion yen ($97 million)
in annual tournament revenue and repair a reputation already
tarnished in recent years by allegations of assault, trainee
abuse and drug use.

Sports Minister Tatsuo Kawabata said last week he was
concerned about links between the sport and organized crime,
including allegations that stablemasters gave front-row
tournament tickets to gangsters.

The Japan Sumo Association on July 4 banned wrestler
Kotomitsuki and stablemaster Otake for life after they admitted
to betting on professional baseball games. More than a dozen
other wrestlers were suspended, preventing them from competing
in the Nagoya tournament.

Nagatanien Co., Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., IHI Corp.
and Natori Co. said they won’t sponsor the Nagoya tournament
because of the betting scandal.

Sumo tournaments are held six times a year, touring through
Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

The origins of sumo date back at least to the 7th century,
and one legend has it that a sumo match between two gods
determined who would rule Japan. Wrestlers, who are known by a
single name, are organized in stables managed by former
wrestlers.